A Stolen Future
by Kiki Malone
Summary: Lin had known Tenzin since the day she was born. It seemed that they were destined to walk the path of life together, but when one of them takes a wrong turn, the future that they were meant to have is stolen from them.
1. Uncertainty

**A Stolen Future**

**Chapter One: Uncertainty**

_"__You will _never_ bear his child!"_

Lin Beifong woke with a start. She gasped for air as she sat up and took in her surroundings. She smelled the sea and felt a cool breeze blowing through her wavy, black hair. She took a deep breathe as she felt the wood floor beneath her and the warm arm lying across her hips. Looking down, she saw her boyfriend sleeping peacefully next to her, on the ground. She was on Air Temple Island.

Once again, she and Tenzin had fallen asleep in the Meditation Pavilion. It was a common occurrence stemming from their teenage years when Tenzin when had tried teaching Lin to meditate. The lessons were unsuccessful, but not a complete waste. Lin had given up on meditation, but discovered that she loved the view and found it relaxing to simply sit and take it in. One day Tenzin had suggested that she stay to see the night sky from the pavilion, and knowing that her mother would not care, Lin agreed. That was the first time that she had fallen asleep with Tenzin. She remembered waking up in a panic the next morning and demanding that Tenzin fly her home on Oogie. She had worried that she had finally crossed a line and that her mother might actually be upset about her fourteen year old daughter staying out _all_ night, but Toph Beifong seemed indifferent to her daughter's carelessness. Lin had been hurt by her her mother's lack of care, but chose to swallow it back and get her eight year old sister ready for school. Despite knowing that she would not get in trouble for staying out all night, Lin promised herself that it would never happen again. Teenagers ought to be home at night, and Suyin needed her in the mornings.

It turned out that this was one promise that Lin could not keep. She did well for the first few months, but then one night after a particularly stressful week, she asked Tenzin if she could stay a few hours and watch the stars. He agreed and chose to sit with her again. The next day, she awoke wrapped in Tenzin's arms for the second time. As time went on it became a more common (and welcome) occurrence. For the first few years she would be upset with herself about her lack of willpower. She would fight back a smile and wake Tenzin up, demanding to be taken home and reminding him that they were committing a taboo in the Air Nomad culture. By the time they were sixteen, she let herself smile when she woke up and would lay a content hand on his cheek (or in his hair before he had committed to keeping his head shaved).

This time it was different. For one, it was still night; and this time, she had been woken by a memory that had manifested itself into a nightmare. Her usual contentedness had been replaced by a bittersweet feeling as she stared down at the man that she loved. She reached down stroked his cheek and brown beard for a moment, as she fought back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes. When she felt his arm tighten around her waist, she suddenly felt that she had to act. Lin wiped her eyes to ensure they were dry before gently shaking Tenzin's shoulder and waking him.

"Tenzin." She whispered. "Tenzin, wake up."

The Airbender opened his eyes and saw his beautiful girlfriend looking down at him.

"Lin, it's still dark, is something wrong?" He asked, reaching up and holding his hand against the scar on her cheek.

Lin rested her hand on top of his and held it there, feeling his warmth.

"No, everything is fine." She replied, with a sad smile.

"Then let's go back to sleep." He said as he gently tried to pull her close to him again.

Lin wanted to listen to him. She wanted to curl back into his arms and fall asleep, but it did not feel right at the moment. Lin pulled back.

"No Tenzin," She whispered to him. "We shouldn't be here."

Lin stood up and began pulling him with her. The tall man begrudgingly rose and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend.

"Where are we going?" He asked, fairly certain that the years of rushing her home were far behind them.

"The dormitories." Lin replied as they walked away from the pavilion.

"Why?" Tenzin asked scratching his head. "It's still dark."

"Exactly, you're supposed to be sleeping in your room in the _men's_ dormitory, and _I'm_ supposed to be in the _women's_ dormitory where your parents and the Acolytes have graciously allowed me to stay the night."

"Are you serious?" Tenzin asked, as he stopped walking and pulled Lin back to face him. "Lin, we're not fooling anyone. I'm pretty sure that they know we always sleep on the pavilion."

"Your parents turn a blind eye because they like me, but that doesn't make it okay, Tenzin." She told him firmly as they held hands. "You're responsible for keeping the Air Nomad culture alive, you can't break the rules just because you want to."

"Marry me, Lin."

"What?" She asked taken aback.

"Marry me, Lin. Then we'd never have to spend another night apart." He looked at her with so much hope as he practically begged her. "Please Lin. _Please _say yes!"

Lin stared into those blue eyes that she had known since she was born. She loved those eyes. She loved when those eyes were happy, and she could make that happen right now with one simple word. One word that she wanted to say so badly. Lin felt her heart fill with apprehension as she tried to find the words to say. Finally, she realized that she would be unable to say them as long as she looked into her love's eyes. Lin turned her head away and looked first at her hands and then to the Air Temple.

"Tenzin..." She said she released his hands. "We've talked about this."

Even without looking at him, she could see the pain flashing through his eyes.

"I'm not ready yet."

She turned to walk down the path toward the women's dormitory, but soon felt strong arms wrap around her in a hug.

"Someday. Someday you'll be ready, and you'll let me know when that is. Please say you will." He begged, choking back the despair he felt every time she rejected his proposal.

Lin was quiet for a moment, fighting back her own tears as she tried to find the courage to tell him the truth. She reached up and held onto the arms that were wrapped around her, trying to find the strength to release him. It did not work, she just wanted cling to him more. When she finally trusted her voice not to tremble, she spoke.

"Tenzin, if it were simply a matter of marrying _you, _I would say 'yes' in a heartbeat. I would have said 'yes' the first time you asked me... but it's not just you. You're asking me to be the mother of the new Air Nation, and I don't know if I can ever be ready for that."

Tenzin loosened his grip enough to walk around and face her. He held Lin's shoulder with one hand and used the other to gently direct direct her head towards his. Lin still refrained from making eye contact, but could not resist the urge to rest her hand on the one cupping her cheek.

"Lin, I realize that I'm asking a lot of you, and I know that you think that I'm blinded by love, but we've known each other our entire lives. I _know_ what you're capable of, and I know that you would be an exceptional wife and mother -and I don't think that there's anybody in the entire _world_ that would be a better mother to the future of the Air Nation,"

"What about one of those Air Acolytes?" Lin asked.

"What?" Tenzin asked, confused by the suggestion.

"One of the Air Acolyte women." Lin clarified. "They strive to live the Air Nomad way of life. They've taken the oath of non aggression, they don't eat meat, they spend their days meditating and minding the temple. It seems like one of them would be better at raising an Airbender family."

"You may not choose to live the life of an Air Nomad, Lin, but you've grown up with my family. You know my culture, and understand it's importance -sometimes even more than I do. You also know when to stand up and tell me that I'm wrong, which is something that no Acolyte has ever told me, and something that myself and our children would desperately need."

Lin let out a small laugh, but still did not look up.

"I also know that if our children were ever in danger, you would protect them better than any Air Acolyte or White Lotus guard could. Don't you see Lin? You will be the best mother an Airbender could ask for, and we love each other so much, it must be fate! I'm so sure of it! Please Marry me, _please_, Lin!"

Tenzin looked at Lin with renewed hope. He had not planned this speech, but he had thrown his heart and head into it and was certain that his argument was air proof (no pun intended). He truly believed that this time he had succeeded and she would say yes. Tenzin could feel the hope rising in him and knew that the moment she agreed to marry him, he would be yelling and jumping for joy. He would fly around the island and wake everybody to tell them the good news, he might even wake the residents of Republic City -he had been waiting so long for this that he was sure that he would not be able to contain his joy.

As Tenzin's hope continued to rise, Lin still refused to look up. A tear finally managed to leak out of her eye.

"What if I can't give you any Airbender children?"

The question hung in the air and began to deflate the bubble of hope in Tenzin.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm an _Earth_bender, Tenzin. What if I can only give you Earthbending children?"

He had never thought about that before. He had been so determined that he and Lin would be the parents of the new Air Nation that he had never thought of the possibility of their children being anything other than the Airbenders that he was destined to have.

"I suppose some of them might be Earthbenders, but I would still love them." Tenzin finally replied.

"Your parents had _three_ children and you were the only Airbender, Tenzin. What if we're not even _that _lucky? What if I can only give you Earthbenders?"

"Then I would still love them because they would be _our_ children!"

"Then the Air Nation will die!" Lin snapped at him. "The Air Nation would die a second time and everybody would remember that it was because _Tenzin,_ the _last_ Airbender, was selfish and chose to marry an _Earth_bender instead of doing his duty and marrying a woman who was more capable of producing Airbenders! Is that what you want?"

"Of course not! But I've already told you that I love you and I believe that fate made us to be together, so I'm willing to take that risk! Any children we have will be incredible whether they bend the Earth, Air or nothing at all!"

"And what if I can't have any children?"

"Why would you think that Lin?"

Tenzin looked down at the love of his life. She still refused to meet his eye and the confidence she usually carried was no longer present. Tenzin was the only person that Lin ever allowed herself to be vulnerable with, but right now it went beyond that. At this moment she seemed. . . fragile. It was something that he had only seen twice before, and it scared him to be seeing it now.

"It happens. There are plenty of women who can't have children, what if I'm one of them?"

"If you're really worried about that, then just ask my mother to look at you. If there really is a problem then I'm certain that she can fix it. We have nothing to be afraid of."

Lin finally looked into his eyes, and he was shocked to see the tears that were trying to escape her pake green eyes.

"I wish that I could be so sure." She said before pulling out of his grasp and continuing down the path.

"Lin!" He called. "I love you and I'm not giving up! I'll keep asking! Promise me that you'll keep thinking about it!"

At that, Lin turned back to look at him. Despite her feelings of despair, he could still make her smile. Without warning, she crossed the distance between them and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. When their lips finally parted from each other, the stood still with their foreheads touching and their hands entwined between their chests.

"I love you too." Lin finally said. "I love more than anyone else, and I _do _want to be your wife, but right now... I don't think that I'm ready. I'm not sure if I'll ever be, but I _will_ keep thinking about it."

"And I will keep asking until the day _are _ready -although I should warn you, the longer you make me wait, the happier I'll be when you say 'yes'. If you make me wait long enough, I'll have enough enthusiasm to fly around the world and tell every single living creature our wonderful news."

"I'll hold you to that, Tenzin," Lin said with a chuckle before pushing back from him, "but for now we need to go to bed."

The couple kissed one more time before going their separate ways for the night. Lin turned back at one point and watched his retreating figure. Her smile had left and was instead replaced with a mask of regret. She wished that she had the strength to let him go. It was not fair to continue stringing him along like this, she knew that she had to let him go and find the woman that he would propagate a nation with, but no matter how hard she tried she simply could not do it.

When Lin had finally entered the room that was given to her for her visits, she wasted little timed in getting ready for bed. Not wanting to turn on the lights, she used her seismic sense to locate her nightclothes and change before making her way to the bathroom for her nightly hygiene routine. She was feeling miserable when she returned to her room, she pulled the towel off of her hair and walked over to the dresser to grab her comb. There was just enough moonlight for her to see her reflection in the mirror. Upon seeing the scar her sister had left on her face, she heard voice of the woman from her nightmare ringing through her head.

_"__You will _never_ bear his child! He will leave you for another woman and you will never love another man!"_

Lin dropped the comb and lost her balance. She supported herself against the dresser with one hand and grasped at her abdomen with the other. The young woman felt as though a part of her had been ripped out. She let out a cry as she sank down to the ground. The tears that she had been holding back for the last few hours were now flowing freely. Lin Beifong, the exceptional police officer and Earthbender who feared nothing, was now curled in a ball on the floor with one hand covering her mouth in an attempt to muffle the screams and cries that she could no longer hold back.

She loved him so much. They had been together since she was born. He was one that she had entrusted her damaged heart to -and yet she knew that one day, he would leave her and shatter what was left of her heart.

* * *

_I started watching Legend of Korra again, and after doing more research on Tenzin and Lin (who os honestly the most interesting character in the show), this idea popped into my head. I woke up around midnight and felt like I had to write it. Originally it was meant to be one shot, but things got away from me and it will now 4-6 chapters._


	2. Two Paths

**Stolen Future**

**Chapter Two: Two Paths**

"Please, Lin, _please_!" Suyin whined, dragging out the last please.

"No, Su, we're not wasting money on some charlatan!" Lin snapped at her little sister, as she dragged the girl along with her through the crowded, lantern lit, streets.

It was long ago in the days of their youth. Before Lin had joined the Police Academy. It was back in the days when she often kept her wavy hair down and was known to wear something other than her uniform and workout clothes. Long before her face was scarred by the sister that she had loved so dearly. Right now, Suyin did not yet reach her shoulder and was still the most precious thing in the world to her. She loved Tenzin greatly, but he could take care of himself; Su was her little sister in need of protection and guidance, and with their mother's lack of attention, Lin had taken up the job.

Republic city was having it's annual Harmony Festival, and Suyin had insisted on going. Originally, Lin had not planned on attending, but upon realizing that her mother was going to allow the eleven year old to attend unsupervised, she changed her plans. Even with police patrolling the event, Lin did not trust that her little sister could stay out of trouble. As much as she loved the girl, it could not be denied that she had a propensity for trouble. Countless injuries, accidents, messes and confusion had proven that Suyin Beifong needed constant attention.

"But she's the real deal!" The young girl argued. "Everybody's saying it!"

"And what proof do they have, Su?" Lin demanded. "You can't just believe everything you're told. You need to check for evidence and decide from there whether or not it's true."

"Yumi said that her grandmother was Aunt Wu's apprentice!"

"Aunt Wu?" Lin asked.

"Yeah! The lady who said that Katara and Aang would get married, and that Sokka would hurt himself a lot!"

"I know who she is, Su. In fact I seem to recall that she predicted that that volcano _wouldn't_ erupt."

"_No_, she said that it wouldn't destroy the village and it didn't!" Su reminded her older sister.

The older girl rolled her eyes and was about to respond when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her close into a man's side.

"Hey!" Tenzin greeted. "I got us some food!"

He handed the sisters their meat filled kebabs, and kept the vegetarian one for himself.

"You would not believe how hard it was for me to order those!" He told them. "Apparently the guy knew that Airbenders don't eat meat, so he thought that he had misheard me and kept trying to sell me three vegetarian kebabs. It took awhile but I managed to explain to him that it was for my carnivorous girlfriend and her monstrous sister."

"Hey!" Su exclaimed, indignantly, as she chewed on a chunk of meat.

Lin rolled her eyes and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"My hero." She said in a tone of mock adoration, before taking a bite of her own kebab.

"So what were you two talking about while I was gone?" Tenzin asked.

"Su was trying to talk me into seeing a fortune teller." Lin informed him.

"Her grandma was an apprentice of Aunt Wu!" Suyin told him.

"You know she predicted that my parents would get married and that Uncle Sokka would hurt himself a lot."

"Both of which are easy to predict!" Lin pointed out in exasperation.

"Oh come on, Lin!" He said. "What's the harm in seeing her? Especially if you don't believe anything she says."

"What's the _point_ in seeing her?" Lin retorted.

"You would be creating another memory with your sister before you join the Police Academy." Tenzin said in a soothing voice.

"_Please_?" Suyin begged again, doing her best to give her older sister puppy eyes.

"_Fine._" Lin said begrudgingly.

Suyin pumped a fist in the air and gave a cry of victory.

"_Only_ if you promise me that it's only for fun and that you won't take anything she says seriously."

"I promise, I promise!" Suyin gushed as she maneuvered herself in front of her sister and jumped up and down in excitement. "It will just be for fun! We'll just ask silly questions about who we'll marry and how many babies we'll have, and we'll giggle like little girls. I promise not to believe any of it!"

"Except for the part about marrying a handsome Airbender." Tenzin interjected. "You should definitely listen to that part."

"Aww, Tenzin," Lin said as she turned to smile at her boyfriend, "you're father is already taken!"

Tenzin's cheeks turned red as Suyin began to cackle at her sister's joke.

"Well then you'll just have to settle for me." Tenzin replied calmly.

"Well that's a relief." Lin replied. "Your dad is nice and all, but he would _never_ buy me meat."

Lin leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek, which instantly calmed the embarrassed young man.

"You think I'm handsome too, right?" he asked.

"A little less so, without your hair, but the beard makes up for it."

"I still think he'd look better with hair." Suyin supplied.

"Thank you Su." Tenzin said sarcastically "You're a real charmer."

"I try." Suyin said with a shrug before pulling on Lin's hand. "Now let's go! I want to know if I'll meet someone who gives me the same googly eyes that Tenzin gives you!"

Suyin led the way to an ornate wagon, that almost resembled a home, and insisted that Tenzin stay outside. "Beifong Sisters _only_!" She had declared. Lin gave him an amused smile as her sister led her into the fortune teller's domain. The inside of the wagon was filled with the heavy aroma of incense and tea, and looked like a small room filled with art, trinkets and the typical tools of a fortune teller. A woman, who's brown hair was swept up in a large glossy bun, entered the room from behind a curtain while carrying a teapot and sat at the round table.

"Welcome Lin and Su. I am Aunt Jun. Please, have a seat. I've been waiting for you." She said as she motioned for them to sit in the two seats in front of her table.

Lin rolled her eyes as her sister let out a small squeal if excitement.

"She knew we were coming Lin! How cool is that?"

"Su, remember our agreement. If you take this too seriously, we're leaving."

Suyin quickly schooled her features into a poker face.

"Right, right." The preteen girl agreed. "There are a like a hundred ways that she could have known we were coming and what our names are. . . like seeing into the _future_!"

Lin glared at her sister who quickly put her hands in the air in a show of innocence.

"_Joking_!" She sang.

"Let's just get this over with." Lin grumbled as she moved to sit down.

Suyin happily followed her sister to sit down in front of the fortune teller. The glamorous woman poured two cups of tea, she pushed one towards the younger girl and lifted the other to her own lips. Suyin was about to take a sip of her own tea when she suddenly realized that her scowling sister had not been given a cup. She gently put the cup down and looked at Aunt Jun.

"Why didn't you pour tea for Lin?" The young girl asked.

"Lin won't drink any tea that I give her," Aunt Jun replied, "even if it _is_ her favorite."

Lin rolled her eyes as her sister quickly took a sip of the tea.

"She's right, Lin, it is your favorite!" She exclaimed before holding the cup towards her sister. "Here, wanna try?"

"No." Lin scoffed. "One of us needs to be able to get help if it's been laced with anything."

"Poisoning my customers would be bad for my business, Lin." Aunt Jun replied with a chuckled.

"Can we just get on with this fortune thing?" Lin snapped. "I have better things to do with my night."

"Like making out with Tenzin?" Suyin asked.

Lin's face turned red.

"SU!" She yelled.

"They won't be making out tonight." The fortune-teller chuckled, as she spoke to the younger girl in a wistful tone. "I saw this day, long ago; your sister's love is mature and tonight will be a night of discussion and care. The kisses they share tonight will be innocent." Suddenly she leaned closer to the preteen girl and spoke with a lowered voice. "However, I've also seen a few days from now, they will _not_ be so innocent then -especially when-"

"_Okay!_" Lin interrupted. "That's enough! Are we done here?"

"We haven't even started." Aunt Jun replied with a smile.

"Yeah! I wanna know if I'm getting married or if I'll be a single-mother like Mom!" Suyin declared, causing her older sister to stare at her in shock.

Lin had no idea that Suyin worried about these things. She always seemed so care free. It never occurred to Lin that this wild child would be worried about her future children. Lin looked to the fortune teller and hoped that the woman, who Suyin believed so strongly in, would give her sister words of hope for a good future. A charlatan would only tell you what you want to hear, she reasoned.

"Go ahead." Lin said with a wave of her hand.

The woman reached out and took the child's hand in her own and began to examine the palm.

"I see many children." The woman finally told the girl.

"Will they all have the same dad?" Suyin asked, causing Lin to feel her heart break a little.

"Yes, he won't be very strong, but he will be an intelligent and caring man who stands his ground."

"So he'll stay with us?"

"Of course he will, dear. He'll be your husband, after all."

Suyin's face began to light up.

"He will love you and your children more than anything in the world."

"Really?!" Suyin gasped with a huge smile on her face.

The older woman chuckled.

"Oh, yes, and you will love him so dearly."

"When will I meet him?!" She asked anxiously.

Lin arched an eyebrow, concerned that her sister's newfound enthusiasm could lead to a series of poor choices.

"You already have," Aunt Jun replied, "but you won't know it for many years. Soon you will be started down a long road that will take you away from him and your family, but eventually the two of you will meet again."

Suyin's smile dropped a bit.

"I'll be taken from my family?" She asked, quietly. "Why?!"

"It will be for your own good."

"But _Lin_ takes good care of me!" The young girl declared. "And Mom teaches me how to defend myself! How can it be good to be separated from them!?"

"You will understand someday." Was the only response that Suyin was given as the fortune teller released her hand.

Lin was horrified at how quickly Suyin's fortune had turned from a happy fantasy to a dark nightmare. She saw her little sister's eye widen and her mouth drop open in shocked silence. As a protective older sister, she had had enough.

"That's it." Lin said as she stood up and grabbed her sister's shoulder. "We're leaving."

Suyin nodded her head and began to stand as Lin reached into her pocket and pulled out the charlatan's payment, not wanting to give the woman an excuse to follow them.

"Wait!" The woman exclaimed. "You haven't heard _your_ future yet!"

"You already told my sister; remember? I'm not making out with Tenzin tonight, but I will in a few days. _Thanks_!" She snapped as she slammed the coins down and jerked Suyin away from the table.

"I would think that the woman who carries the future of an entire nation would wish to know more about her future." Aunt Jun said calmly.

"_Wow_! I'm going to be the mother of the new Air Nation!" Lin snapped sarcastically. "I haven't heard _that_ before!"

"Your future is not yet set in stone, Lin Beifong." The oracle said in a serious voice. "There are two paths in front of you and the first step has already been taken. The next step will determine which path you take. One will be filled with joy and new life, the other will be filled with heartbreak and anger as you lose all that you care about."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now if you don't mind, I have to reassure my sister that you're a fraud and that _no one_ is taking her away from me!" Lin snapped as she held Suyin close and pulled her to the exit.

Tenzin looked up when he heard the two girls exiting the wagon. His girlfriend's scowling face was no surprise, but upon seeing her younger sister sobbing, he rushed forward. Lin was was rubbing the young girl's arms, as they walked, and whispering to her.

"Tenzin, can you help me get her down the stairs?"

Tenzin quickly reached up and grasped Suyin's arms and supported her weight while Lin directed her sister from behind. When they finally reached the grass, Lin led them a few feet away from the wagon before stopping and moving to stand in front of the sobbing girl. She motioned for Tenzin to let go, before crouching down and firmly resting her hands on Suyin's shoulders.

"Look at me Su." Lin said gently.

Suyin did not comply, instead she continued to keep her head down as she cried.

"What happened in there?" Tenzin asked.

Lin ignored his question and grabbed her sister's face with both hands. She moved the girl's head until she was forced to look her in the eyes.

"Listen to me Su. That was all nonsense. Okay?" Lin said as she pushed Suyin's curls out of her face with one hand. "It was complete nonsense. I know that you believe that some fortune tellers know what they're talking about, but she's not one of them. She's a fraud."

"H-how can you be sure?" Suyin asked.

"Because I'm your big sister, Su, I love you and nothing can ever separate us. Do you understand me?"

Suyin sniffled a little more as she tried to nod. Lin sighed and pulled her in for a hug, prompting the younger girl to sob into her shoulder as Lin rubbed her back.

"Sh, sh. It's okay. It was all nonsense, remember? Just for fun."

Suyin continued crying.

"You know what, I can even prove it to you. Do you want me to make out with Tenzin right now, just to show you that she's wrong?"

Tenzin's face turned bright red.

"Lin?! What are you-"

Suyin started laughing, causing her tears to slow down.

"Tenzin, I may need your assistance." She called to her boyfriend.

The flustered Tenzin was struggling to get out a response.

"Wha- Not here! Why- Lin! I can't-"

Suyin's laughter grew as she pulled back and started rubbing her eyes.

"It's okay. You don't have to do that." She said.

"Are you sure? It's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!" Tenzin asked. "I thought you liked-"

Lin cut off her boyfriend's sentence.

"I think we can both agree that it would be uncomfortable to have anybody watching us -especially my eleven year old sister." Lin stated.

"Oh, yes. Yes you are correct." Tenzin agreed, still a little red in the face.

He paused for a moment before asking the question that he was really curious about.

"_Why_, exactly, would us making out help Su?"

"Because Aunt Jun said that you guys wouldn't make out tonight."

". . .Right." He replied, deciding that he'd get the full story, from Lin, later.

"How about we get something sweet to eat." Lin suggested. "Does that sound good?"

Suyin nodded. She was no longer laughing, but she was not crying either, which Lin took as a good sign. Lin stood up and started walking, but soon noticed that her sister was not keeping up and seemed to stay a few paces behind. Tenzin seemed to notice as well, and after making eye contact with Lin, he walked back to her sister and scooped her up. The young girl did not fight back and instead curled up a bit and rested her head against his chest.

Lin found a stall selling warm fruit tarts and bought two of them. Suyin slowly nibbled on hers, while Lin and Tenzin took turns eating the tart that they were sharing. As Tenzin's arms were still occupied with carrying Suyin, Lin would have to hold the treat up to his mouth whenever he wanted a bite. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Suyin finally spoke.

"That wasn't very fun." She mumbled.

"No, it wasn't." Lin agreed.

Shortly afterwards they decided to head back to Air Temple Island, where the Beifong sisters had been invited to spend the night. Katara, having seen Oogi arrive earlier than expected, hurried outside to see what had happened. She was surprised to see Tenzin helping Lin get her sister down from the saddle. Usually Suyin was trying to jump from the saddle before the bison even touched the ground and Lin would have to hold her back. Tonight. Suyin was unusually quiet, as she clung to her older sister.

"What happened?" Katara asked as she rushed forward to check on the girl. "Are you okay Suyin? Did you get hurt?"

"She's fine." Lin said. "Just a little shaken up."

"Why? What happened?" Katara asked as she reached out and stroked Suyin's curly hair.

"She talked us into seeing a fortune-teller and didn't like what she heard." Lin replied.

"Oh honey, let's get you inside." Katara insisted as she took Suyin's shoulders and began to usher her to the house.

"We'll meet you inside in a bit, Mother." Tenzin said as he took Lin's hand. "We're just gonna bring Oogi back to the stables first."

"Okay, don't be long, I'm making some tea!" The older woman called back as she waved and continued on her way.

Suyin looked over her shoulder at her sister, clearly upset that she was not following.

"I'll be back soon, Su!" Lin reassured her. "Be good for Katara!"

When Suyin nodded and turned back towards the home that she was being led to, Lin felt Tenzin squeeze her hand. She looked up and smiled at him before the two began to make their way towards the stables, with the sky bison following.

"So... do you mind telling me what happened in there?" Tenzin asked. "Everything seemed fine when you two went in; but then you came out angrier than a viper bat -which I suppose isn't all that unexpected-"

Lin raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend's statement.

"-but Suyin was crying, and then I hear you started talking about being separated and making out with me... or not -I'm really confused about how it all relates,"

Lin let out a small laugh.

"Flameo, that must have sounded bad out of context."

"Yes, and I think that I've been rather patient, but context would be _really_ nice."

Lin let out a sigh before telling Tenzin about the events that had transpired.

"Lets see, we got inside and the woman was trying to act all mysterious and was talking about how she had been waiting for us. Suyin -obviously- lapped it up. I tried to hurry it along, so Su tells her that it's because I was planning to make out with you -which we both know is untrue."

"Yeah, you don't have me scheduled in until Monday while our parents are busy and Su is in school!"

"I did not _schedule _anything! I just said that it was the ideal time to get some some alone time and that. . . we might not use that time wisely."

Tenzin chuckled at his girlfriend's logical approach to their love life.

"Although, if I did schedule it, that would explain how she knew." Lin grumbled.

"So you have been thinking about it?"

"Thinking about what? How she put together such a convincing act or kissing you?"

"The second one." He answered with a small smile.

"I'll admit that kissing you is not unpleasant." Lin replied as she swung his hand a bit and continued to look ahead.

"I should hope not." Tenzin replied as he pulled on her hand so that she turned to face him, before he leaned down to give her a light kiss on the lips.

Lin gave him a small smile when he pulled back. She raised herself up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss in return.

"We should finish putting Oogi away." She reminded him.

"You're really terrible at romance, you know that?" Tenzin informed his girlfriend, as he watched her walk inside the stable.

The teenage girl laughed.

"You've met my mother, what do you expect?"

Tenzin rolled his eyes as he motioned for the giant sky bison to follow him.

"Come along Oogi."

When they got inside, he saw that Lin was already filling the feeding trough with hay. He quickly grabbed the other pitchfork and began to help her.

"So what happened after the prediction of our future make out session?"

"Can we just call it a date?!" Lin snapped.

"Fine, _our future date_. What happened afterwards? Why does Suyin think that you guys are going to be separated?"

"She started asking if she was gonna be a single mom."

Tenzin looked at Lin in surprise.

"I didn't know that she was worried about that. She's only eleven."

"I was surprised too, but apparently it's weighing heavily on her mind."

"And?"

"And the lady told her that she would marry a nice, weak man and have lots of babies."

"Really?"

"Really."

Lin put the pitchfork away and began using her metal bending to heft a large basin off the wall and fling it outside. She and Tenzin walked in the direction of the basin.

"Somehow I'm having trouble imagining Su with a bunch of kids." He confessed.

"Tenzin, could you at least pretend that you don't believe this nonsense?" Lin requested.

"Sorry, Lin, but when you're father is the Avatar, it's kind of hard to be skeptical about such things." Tenzin told her as he stopped by the basin that now sat underneath a pump and she leaned against a nearby tree.

"Well for tonight you're gonna have to humor me." Lin demanded as he began to pump water into the basin. "Because the next thing the charlatan told her is that she's gonna be separated from us."

"Lin. . ."

"Don't stop pumping the water, airhead!" She snapped. "Oogi is thirsty!"

Tenzin sighed and continued to move the handle up and down.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" He asked.

Lin's arms were crossed and refused to make eye contact.

"It's ridiculous." She stated. "Between me, my mom, your parents and the police force; nobody is taking Su away from us. It was a stupid thing for that fraud to say."

"It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, more than anyone else." Tenzin said.

Lin remained quiet. Tenzin finished pumping the water and walked over to his girlfriend. She was still looking in the opposite direction and keeping her arms wrapped tightly around herself. He sighed as he reached out pulled her against his chest.

"There's a part of you that believes it, isn't there?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair.

Lin let out a small sob.

"I don't want to." She spoke into his shoulder.

"But you do."

"Like you said, your dad is the Avatar. We've grown up knowing about things that most people would consider nonsense."

Lin suddenly pushed against Tenzin's chest and looked him in the eyes.

"What if she's right, Tenzin? What if I lose Su? What if I lose _you_? What if I lose _everyone_?"

"What else did she say?" Tenzin asked.

Lin was quiet.

"Lin. What did she say?" Tenzin repeated firmly.

". . .She said that I have two paths, and that one of them would lead to me losing everyone that I care about."

Tenzin sighed when he saw tears begin to slip out of Lin's eyes. He moved his hands up to cup her head and pulled it forward to press a kiss to her forehead, before resting theirs brows against each other.

"Aunt Wu told my father that one can shape their own destiny." He told her. "So even if she really did see the future, look to the positive. She said that Su would marrying a nice man and have a wonderful family, so even if you are separated for a time, she'll be happy in the end."

He pulled back and made eye contact with his girlfriend again.

"As for you, she said that you have _two_ paths. What was the other one?"

"She said that other one was full of joy and life."

Tenzin smiled at her.

"Then let's work towards that path. Together."

Lin smiled back at him, but before she could say anything, they felt a shift in the wind. The young couple looked up to see the Avatar's sky bison approaching them from above. They quickly separated before Appa landed a few feet away from them. Aang jumped down from the giant creature's neck and was soon followed by Toph, who was sliding down from the saddle and still wearing her armor.

"Mom!" Lin exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on duty all night."

"Katara called. She said that Suyin was really upset and uncharacteristically quiet, so I asked Han if he could take over for the night."

"I'm so sorry Mom!" Lin said. "I shouldn't have taken her to see that fortune teller, but she was so insistent and-"

"Lin." Toph interrupted, laying a hand on her elder daughter's shoulder. "I'm not upset with you. It was Su's choice, I'm glad that you let her and that you were there for her when she needed you."

"But you had to leave work."

"I'm sure that Han can handle it," Toph said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "and if anybody has a problem with me taking the night off, I'll just kick their butts. Now how about you help get the bison settled in for the night while I check on your sister?"

Toph began to make her way up the path towards the house.

"Thanks for the ride Twinkle-Toes!" She called without looking back.

"You're welcome Toph! Let Katara know that Sokka and Suki will be over in the morning!"

Aang turned back to the young couple and smiled.

"Good evening, Lin. It's nice to see you." He greeted as he opened his arms for a hug.

Lin smiled and launched herself into the hug.

"It's nice to see you too, Uncle."

"Is my son treating you well?" He asked as he released her.

"He's been behaving tonight. I'm sorry that we didn't make it to your presentation, but. . . well, I guess you know what happened."

"It's more than alright, Lin, You had something more important to take care of -besides, it wasn't anything that you haven't heard before. Now how about we get Appa and Oogi taken care of and head back to the house?"

The three of them returned to their efforts of ensuring that the two bison had enough food and water to last them until morning, and taking off their saddles before heading back to the house. As they drew closer, they heard the unmistakable noise of earthbending. Unsurprisingly, Toph had decided that her youngest daughter had needed a bit of action to snap her out of stupor and had dragged her out of the house to spar.

"She promised to put it all back together when they finish." Katara said as they watched Suyin destroy a boulder that her mother had chucked at her, before flipping up in the air.

The fight continued until Toph was satisfied with her daughter's energy and took her away to talk. Lin never knew what her mother said to the young girl, but when they came back into the kitchen where the others were drinking tea and snacking, Suyin seemed more like herself. She was a little clingy with their mother, but otherwise, seemed fine.

That night, Toph slept over on Air Temple Island. Lin remembered watching from the doorway as her mother lay in bed, hugging Suyin and whispering to her as they fell asleep. She turned away from the scene and made her way to the Meditation Pavilion where Tenzin sat, waiting for her. She joined him on the ground, where he hugged her close as they gazed at the stars until they fell asleep. When Lin woke up the next morning, she quickly hurried back to the room that she was supposed to have shared with her mother and sister. Lin tried to be quiet as she made her way into the unoccupied bed.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Katara and Aang what you and Junior were up to." Toph said without opening her eyes.

Lin blushed, in embarrassment, knowing that her mother had jumped to the wrong conclusion about her and Tenzin's late night.

A few days later everything had gone back to normal. On the surface, it seemed that Aunt Jun's predictions had been forgotten. Nobody really spoke about the incident and Suyin was back to her carefree antics. Toph was leaving the girls to their own devices, as usual, and Lin began to refocus on her preparations for the Police Academy.

All seemed to be going well until Lin began her studies at the Police Academy. It was around that time that Tenzin and Aang left for a long term trip around the world. Lin became engrossed in her courses but still made sure to check in on Suyin, who's behavior was becoming more challenging. It started with bouts of moodiness which Lin wrote off as teenage mood swings. Soon Suyin was slacking off, staying out past curfew, skipping school, running around town and hanging around with questionable friends.

Lin still held out hope that she could push Suyin back on the right path, but when she became a police officer it only seemed to get worse. Lin felt like she was always fighting with her sister over something; whether it was Suyin's academics, friends, late nights or the alcohol that Lin could clearly smell on the young girl's breath. The worst part was that their mother did not seem to care, she would simply brush off Lin's concerns and tell her to let Suyin figure it out herself.

Then came the day when everything changed. It was the day that Lin caught her fifteen year old sister driving the getaway car for the Terra Triad. It was the day that Lin had decided to put a stop to Suyin's reckless behavior once and for all. It was the day that her face was scarred by her sister. It was the day that Toph Beifong covered up her youngest child's crime and sent her away. It was on that day Lin started calling Suyin her _half_-sister.

That night, she stayed on Air Temple Island, where Katara tried to heal the wounds on her cheek. She did not go to the pavilion that night. Instead she hid herself away with Tenzin in his old room and cried into his shoulder as he held her tight and tried to comfort her. The only thing she heard that night were the words that Aunt Jun had spoken to a young Suyin, four years ago.

_"Soon you will be started down a long road that will take you away from him and your family."_

* * *

_I will admit to getting lazy in the last few paragraphs._

_I will also admit that after waking up the next day and reading what I posted, I noticed several typos and went back to fix them._


	3. Unraveling

**A Stolen Future**

**Chapter Three: Unraveling**

The night had started off innocently. Lin had come over to the island after she had finished her shift at the station. Almost as soon as she had crossed the threshold, she shed her armor and stored it in the closet before quickly changing into her casual clothes. She had made her way to the kitchen and gave him a quick kiss before cleaning the mess he had made and setting the table while he finished preparing dinner. The meal had been a pleasant one; they had discussed work, the latest news from Katara and the chaos caused by a lemur breaking into the dining hall. After dinner, they had cleaned up and gone for a walk that eventually led to the meditation pavilion.

At first, all was normal. They had sat, looking up at the stars while listening to the waves and smelling the sea. Tenzin held Lin close against his side as they felt the cool autumn air. It did not take long for him to turn away from the stars and gaze at her instead. He loved how serene she looked whenever they were on this pavilion and tonight he was entranced. All was peaceful until Lin finally turned her head and looked up at him. Without thinking about it, the couple leaned in for a kiss. One kiss had turned into two and soon began to multiply. The kisses became less chaste, and all too soon Lin was on her back with Tenzin on top of her. Neither seemed to mind, until Tenzin's hand found it's way to the tie on her shirt.

_ "TENZIN, STOP!_" She yelled as she suddenly pushed him off of her and sat up, gasping for breathe.

"Lin? What's wrong?" He asked.

"I-I think -I don't think we should go any further." She managed to tell him.

"Why?"

"You _know_ why, Tenzin. It's wrong." She reminded him as she wrapped her arms around her legs and looked out at the bay.

"It's a little late for that now, Lin. I can't even count the number of times that we've had sex."

"That doesn't make it okay and I've told you that before! You should know the importance of waiting better than me!"

Tenzin sighed at the truth in her words. They had intended to wait until they were married but on the night of his fifth proposal to her, they had given in and had sex for the first time. That night, he had fallen asleep believing that she had finally agreed to be his wife, but when they woke up the next morning she panicked and began to insist that they had made a mistake, before practically shoving him out the door.

It had been two days before she would even speak to him again. They spent a full week discussing what had happened, how they felt about it and what it meant for their future. In the end they were not entirely sure where they stood, but they had agreed not to have sex again until they were married and Tenzin said that he would be patient and wait until she was ready for marriage. Both promises would be broken and remade, sporadically, over the course of the next twelve years.

"I have waited, Lin." He reminded her. "Maybe not until marriage like we should have, but. . . we should have gotten married a long time ago Lin! I've wanted to marry you for most of my life! Even when we were kids playing house -you know that I saw it as practice for the future!"

A wistful smile crossed Lin's face and she let out a small laugh as she thought of their distant childhood games. Tenzin reached out and gently took hold of one of her hands. She turned her head back to meet his gaze, and for a moment, all seemed peaceful. Then Tenzin spoke.

"Will you _please_ marry me, Lin?" He asked in a soft and sincere tone. "Please, we've waited too long already. I just want us to be a family. I want to share a home with you, share meals with you everyday, sleep next to you every night -and most of all, I want to meet our children. I know that they'll be incredible, Lin, I can picture them so clearly and I love them so much already. Please, Lin."

Lin's lips parted and her eyes widened as she continued to stare at him. Suddenly, she pulled her hand away, stood up and left the pavilion. Tenzin sat, rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do. Lin had always been a complicated person, but over the last decade she had become more difficult. Usually, when they had this particular conversation, Lin would either tell him her stance in a calm manner or get angry; but she never _avoided_ it. Lin was not one to walk away or back down from a challenge, and yet she had.

Tenzin was unsure how to respond. Finally he stood and decided to chase after the woman that he loved. He ran down the path that he had seen Lin taking and followed it to the family quarters that he had been occupying by himself, since his father's death. The front door opened and he saw Lin exit, carrying the bag that held her uniform. She heard his footsteps, and turned her head in his direction. Their eyes met for a few moments, before she turned her body with the intention of walking to the docks.

"Lin, wait!" He called as he rushed forward and grabbed her hand.

She stopped moving, but kept her back turned to him.

"What's going on Lin?"

"I have an early day at work." She informed him. "I need to go home and sleep."

"You _know _that's not what I meant, Lin. This isn't like you! You don't run away from anything! Our entire lives you've faced everything head on, but now you're running away! Why?"

Lin pulled her hand out of his and turned around, furiously, to face him. Her sharp features intensified the look of anger to a degree that would make a hardened criminal cower, but not Tenzin. Tenzin had known Lin his whole life and knew two things when it came to her anger. The first was that she would never hurt him and the second was that she often used anger as a cover for sadness.

"Because I am _sick_ of having this conversation! We've been having it for _fourteen_ _years_ and it never goes anywhere!"

"We wouldn't need to have this conversation if you would just marry me like you said you would, _twenty-two years ago_!"

"Things were different then, Tenzin!"

"What changed? Because we were still talking about marriage the week before my first proposal and then suddenly you weren't sure and you've been putting it off ever since! Did I do something to upset you, Lin?"

"Of course not!" Lin exclaimed.

"THEN _WHY_ WON'T YOU MARRY ME!?" He desperately asked, louder than he had intended to.

"I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU WHY!" Lin yelled back, before lowering her voice slightly. "I'm not ready for marriage and _especially _not children!"

"You're thirty-six, Lin! When _will_ you be ready for children, because that window is closing fast!"

"I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I DON'T WANT CHILDREN!" She yelled at him.

"No! I don't believe you, Lin!" Tenzin retorted with his voice still raised. "Our entire _lives_ we've talked about children! You used to want a big family and you would always talk about how we would balance our duty to the city with our duty to the children! You didn't start having doubts until you were twenty-four and then it somehow turned into not wanting children at all! Do you really expect me to believe that?!"

"Yes, Tenzin! I do! I changed my mind!"

"No you didn't! You just want me to believe you did, but I know it's not true!"

"Then you're delusional, because _I_ _don't want children_!"

"The phantom pregnancies tell me otherwise."

"Wha-" Lin looked as though she had been momentarily stunned, before she suddenly started yelling. "WHY WOULD YOU BRING THAT UP? AND HOW DOES THAT PROVE ANYTHING? YOUR MOTHER SAID THAT IT WAS A COMMON THING!"

"No." Tenzin responded calmly. "She said that the cause of the _miscarriages _was more common than people think, but she told me that the phantom pregnancies are very rare, and are believed to be the result of strong desire to have a child."

"That's a ridiculous theory, and you shouldn't be basing your belief on something that hasn't been proven!"

"Lin, don't forget that I have been with you through every phantom pregnancy and miscarriage, and I've seen how you acted whenever you found out that there was no baby. You _cried_ Lin."

"I wasn't crying for me!" Lin snapped at him. "I was crying for _you_! You loved every single one of those children so much and they never even _existed_! They didn't even have a soul for you to pray for and hope to meet again; and I wish that I never put you through that, Tenzin, but I've done it four times now and I- I'm sorry!"

"Stop pretending that I was the only one affected by it, Lin! I can believe that part of the reason you cried was because of my feelings, but I _know_ that it was also because of _your_ feelings! You try to hide it, but every time we thought that you were pregnant, you were happy."

Tenzin reached out and took one her hands in his, while the other went to cup her scarred cheek. His voice transitioned to a gentler tone.

"I saw you smiling when you thought I wasn't looking, I know that you secretly hoped there was a baby and I saw how crushed you were whenever you found out that there wasn't. Those tears were not just for me. I know you want to appear strong to the rest of the world, Lin, but what I don't understand is why you try to hide it from _me_. . . you used to never hide anything from me, Lin. I want to help you, Lin. _Please_ tell me what's going on. I promise that we can figure it out."

Lin closed her eyes, and took a deep breathe, before opening them again with a look of firm resolve.

"I'm going home, now." She said before pulling her hand out of his grasp and taking a step back. "I'm going to busy for the next few days -don't forget to take care of your mother's herbs, I'll be back to help with the harvest when it dies down at work."

With that, Lin turned and began the walk down to the docks. Tenzin stared at the retreating form of the woman that he loved. He had never felt so hopeless in his life. He knew that something was wrong but Lin was too proud and stubborn to admit it, and unless she did they would never be able to move forward. When Lin had been out of sight for a few minutes, Tenzin heard the soft voice of a woman behind him.

"Master Tenzin?"

Tenzin was startled by the voice and jumped a little before turning around to see who was speaking to him. Standing in front of the greenery and lanterns, next to his home, was a young air acolyte with brown hair and green eyes.

"Pema." He greeted a little surprised to see her in front his home. "What are you doing here so late at night?"

"I was having trouble sleeping and decided to take a walk. . . I -um -I heard your fight. . ."

"You did?"

"I'm sorry." She blurted out. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just-"

Tenzin sighed and held up a hand.

"It's not your fault, Pema." He assured her, as he rubbed his head in frustration. "We should have kept our voices down. . . and maybe taken our discussion inside."

For a few moments, both were silent and the only sound to be heard was the rustling of leaves, wind chimes and the song of a night bird. Pema studied Tenzin with concern on her face, before finally speaking.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be." He replied, with a sigh. "This isn't our first fight. We'll get through it, we always do. . . You're -You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?"

"Of course not." Pema assured him. "I try not participate in gossip."

"Thank you, Pema. It's hard enough for Lin as it is. I'm sure you've noticed that many of the Acolytes don't approve of her; and they haven't done a good job of hiding it. If anybody were to know about the. . . the phantom pregnancies and miscarriages. . . I think that it would finally be too much for her."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"When will it be too much for you?"

"I'm not sure that I understand your question." Tenzin admitted.

Pema took a breathe to gather her nerves.

"Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn, Master Tenzin, but. . . you're miserable."

"Why would you think that?" Tenzin asked in surprise.

"You and Lin. . . You fight a lot."

"Every couple does. We're going through a rough patch, but we've been together for so long, it's bound to happen."

"She's never going to marry you." Pema told him, bluntly.

Tenzin felt as though he had been punched in the gut, and felt a familiar anger rising in him. He took a few deep breathes, to calm himself before responding.

"And what makes you think that?" He asked in a tense voice.

"The two of you have been dating most of your lives, and she knows how important it is for you to get married and have children. If she was going to marry you, she would have done it a long time ago. Clearly, she has no intention to marry you."

"And maybe if all of you Acolytes would get off her back, we'd have been married and had children by now! Do you know how difficult you make it for her? You think that you're subtle but you're not! We know what you think about her! You think that she's too aggressive and ought to retire from her job if she wants to be with me! You think that she's selfish, you think that she should become a vegetarian and a pacifist, you all think that she's a terrible person and you ignore all of her positive qualities! She is quite possibly the strongest and most compassionate person that I know! You all think that you're better than her, and yet, while we sit around meditating and living in our little paradise, she is routinely risking her life to protect innocent and defenseless people -most of whom are complete strangers!"

"I don't think that she's a bad person, Tenzin!" Pema told him, defensively. "But you have to face the facts! She has refused to marry you countless times -and even if she married you tomorrow, she's thirty-six! You would be lucky to get one or two children out of her and even then, there's no guarantee that either of them would be airbenders! And I'm sorry for pointing this out but I heard _everything _and given these miscarriages and 'phantom pregnancies' that you mentioned, it sounds like she may have some kind of fertility issues."

"It could also be the result of stress -which she wouldn't be feeling if there was less pressure on her!"

"Even if that is the case, you have to admit that I have a point. I'm sure that she is a wonderful woman, but. . . I really don't think that you have a future with her, and I think that you know that too."

There was truth in her words, but it was a truth that Tenzin could not accept.

"You don't understand, Pema. Lin and I. . . we've been together for so long. I've loved her since we were children and I've always known that my future is with her. I can't imagine a future without her."

"I know about your history with her," Pema said, "but has it ever occurred to you that maybe that's the problem? Your lives have been so intertwined that you believe that you're meant to be together and that you can't live without her!"

"Clearly you don't know enough if you think that I should just throw all it that away!"

Pema gave him a pensive look before speaking.

"She was born here." Pema said, calmly. "I've heard much about her from the older Acolytes. They said that she was born in the same room that you had been born in and that she took her first breathe as you were taking your first steps. She spent so much of her childhood here that she was practically a sister to you."

"I would not go _that_ far." Tenzin stated, slightly horrified at the accusation.

"Your mother breast fed her!" Pema exclaimed.

"Only when Aunt Toph was at work! It would have been impossible for her to bring Lin to the Police Station and take care of her!"

"And that makes a difference?!" Pema asked. "She drank from the same breast as you and later ate at the same table! You played together, trained together, napped together, and she spent the night when her mother worked late. Your parents helped raise her, and I've been told that your father spent more time with her than he did with your _sister_!"

"Maybe in adulthood, but that was due to Kya traveling around the world. Lin stayed to help the city that our parents created -but that's beside the point! I've never seen Lin as a sister! Even as children, I wanted to marry her, that's not something that one feels for a sister!"

"It still proves my point that your life is _so_ intertwined with hers that you can't even imagine a future with anybody else! Have you ever even had the chance to know another woman?"

"Of course I have!"

"_Besides_ your mother and sister?"

"_Yes_! I haven't lived my whole life being confined to this island, and even if I had, there are many female Acolytes that are close in age to me. I've simply never seen in anybody else what I see in Lin."

"What _do_ you see in her?" Pema asked in genuine curiosity.

"She's my best friend." Tenzin replied. "We've always been there for each other. She understands me and I understand her in a way that nobody else can. I know that we're opposites, but we work well together, we balance each other out and complete each other."

"Do you truly believe that?" Pema asked.

"Of course I do."

"Then why are you two fighting? Why have you spent more than a decade unable to move forward in your relationship?"

Tenzin faltered in his response.

"I- I don't know." He admitted. "I really don't know. Something happened, but. . . I don't know what. . . She won't tell me."

"She's been hiding something from you for over a decade Tenzin. . . I'm not trying to be cruel, but you said it yourself; she doesn't confide in you anymore and she keeps secrets. Your relationship isn't what it used to be."

"She's scared!" Tenzin snapped defensively.

"Of what!" Pema asked in exasperation.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Tenzin yelled in frustration.

All at once it seemed that the fight had left him as his shoulders dropped and he bowed his head. He closed his eyes and held a hand to his forehead. When he began to speak, his voice was quieter and it seemed as though he was holding back tears.

"She won't tell me. She's in pain and her hair is starting to turn grey from the stress, but she still won't tell me anything. I'm so worried about her and she won't let me help her."

"Tenzin..." Pema sighed. "I know you love her and it really is beautiful to see how much you care about her. . . but. . . You're losing yourself."

"What- That's ridiculous!" Tenzin scoffed.

"No, it's not. You've become so focused on your relationship with her that you've been neglecting your duties and turning your back on the culture and beliefs that you're meant to be preserving!"

"I have done no such thing!"

"You have, but you're so focused on that woman that you've become blind to it! We've all noticed how distracted you've been and how much you've been struggling. You can barely even meditate anymore, because you're so focused on _her_ and so worried about your future -and it's not just the meditation! You've been slacking in your participation in life on the island, your lessons have become hollow. . . and your behavior has caused gossip. The others think that you've turned your back on our way of life, and I used to think that they were wrong and that it was all rumors, but now I see that it's true!"

"What rumors? I haven't turned my back on my culture, I-"

"-I heard everything, Tenzin!" She seethed. "You thought that she was pregnant with _your_ child -_multiple_ times! You're having sex with her! You're meant to be our leader! You preach to us about the precepts and yet you've been breaking them! She's leading you away from everything you believe in, and you can't even see it!"

"_Lin _is not the one at fault!" Tenzin snapped. "I'll admit that we have slept together, but _I _am the one who typically instigates it. _Lin_ is the one who usually puts a stop to it and reminds me that we should be waiting -so if you're going to blame anyone, blame me!"

"Are you even listening to yourself Tenzin?" Pema asked, aghast. "You're our leader. If the others were to find out. . . our culture would fall apart! Right now, it's only rumors -but if they knew that it was true and that you're not even ashamed of your transgressions -why should they follow the teachings of the Air Nomads, when you so blatantly ignore them? I thought you cared about preserving your father's culture. . . was I wrong?"

"I _do _care! It's just-" Tenzin's shoulders dropped again and he sighed. "-I really have messed up, haven't I?"

Pema reached forward and laid a hand on his arm.

"You can fix this, Tenzin." She assured him.

"You're right." Tenzin agreed. "Once Lin and I sort this all out-"

"That's not what I was talking about!" Pema snapped, pulling her hand back. "And when are you going to realize that she isn't going to let that happen!"

Tenzin looked at the young woman in shock. She was usually so shy and quiet, but tonight she was different.

"She's not going to _let_ you fix it!" Pema continued. "This has been going on for _years_ -and if you try to outmatch her in stubbornness, you're going to lose! You're going to waste your whole life waiting for her, because she's _not_ going to crack!"

Pema's words were finally beginning to reach Tenzin. His shock was replaced with sorrow as he realized that Pema was right. One of the many things that he loved about Lin was her stubbornness. As an earthbender, it was simply in her nature and Tenzin often relied on it. When he was ready to back down, Lin would always push him to stand strong. Lin's stubbornness had helped him through his training, education, career and even through Bumi and Kya's bullying; but not this time. This time, her stubborn nature would be their undoing.

A million thoughts ran through his head as he remembered their lives together. He saw them as children playing together. He remembered sneaking off of the island to see her when she had started school. He recalled them studying together after his parents had allowed him to attend her school part-time. He remembered the years he had spent helping Lin take care of her sister, and by the time they were ten they were discussing what kind of parents they would be.

He had known from an early age that he loved Lin and had been sure that she felt the same way, but when he was eleven, his classmates' teasing left him wondering if she only saw them as friends. When he was fourteen, Lin revealed that she was having similar doubts and demanded to know how he felt about her. A year later -after a very uncomfortable conversation with their parents- the two officially began to date.

Their first four years as a couple were the happiest years of their lives. Back then they did not have to balance their relationship with their demanding careers. They went on frequent dates, took Oogi (and sometimes Suyin) on trips, and planned their future. They were so young and so sure of their future together, that they lived in a state of near bliss.

The real world did not begin to catch up with them until Tenzin was nineteen. Lin joined the Police Academy and Tenzin accompanied his father on a journey to learn more about his role as the future leader of the Air Nation. The stresses of their studies, jobs and families began to pile up; but they supported each other and kept moving forward. Even after Lin's sister scarred her face, their relationship remained strong and they continued to speak of marriage. It was not until Lin turned down his first proposal that he knew anything was wrong.

As friends and as a couple, they had been through so much together. They had experienced joy, pain and sorrow. Through every accomplishment, loss and injury, they were there for each other. He thought that it would continue that way forever. He had always believed that they would get married and raise a family, but now he realized that it would never happen and it felt as though the air had been stolen from his lungs.

"I can't -I can't lose her." He gasped, thinking out loud. "How did it come to this? How did I let it come to this?"

"It's not your fault Tenzin." Pema tried to reassure him. "You just wanted different things. These things just happen sometimes."

"But we didn't used to. We had everything planned and then. . . I don't know what happened. Why did she change her mind? Was it something I did?"

Pema reached up, and once again, laid a comforting hand on his arm.

"I'm sure that it wasn't your fault Tenzin. You are so sweet, and kind, and caring. You're so wonderful and she is so lucky to have you. I don't know why she can't see it. . . If I had you the way that she does, I would think that I was the luckiest girl in the world and I would thank the spirits every day."

Tenzin looked at the young woman in front of him, shocked by her words.

"Pema. . . What are you. . ."

Pema looked him in the eyes and took a breathe.

"I love you Tenzin. I love you so much and I can't stand to see you hurting this way. _Please_, let me help you."

Tenzin stared at her for a moment before suddenly pulling himself away from her.

"I'm sorry Pema, I need -I need to think." He said as he backed away from the young woman.

"Of course." Pema agreed with a small smile. "I understand."

Tenzin turned and began to stumble away. Even in the dark he saw bits of their lives in every part of the island. He saw them running through the woods with the other children and getting in trouble with the acolytes. He saw them by the well, having picnics with their dolls and Suyin. He saw them teaching Suyin how to walk. He saw them training together and sparring. He saw them climbing the trees as children and later kissing under them as teenagers. He saw Lin teaching him how to train lemurs. In the temple, he saw Lin supporting him as he received his tattoos. He saw her on the side of the dais as he was anointed an airbending master. No matter where he went, Lin was there.

Eventually, after wandering aimlessly around the island, he found himself standing in front of the meditation pavilion. It seemed that they would always led back to this place that had somehow become central to their relationship. He and Lin had spent countless hours here; as children, teenagers and adults. His father had taught them lessons on this pavilion. They had played here when it was not in use. This was where he had first kissed Lin, during a game of wedding when he was five. Back then he had been so sure that they would be together forever. Now here he stood, thirty-seven years old and realizing that the life he had envisioned with Lin was impossible.

Since the moment Tenzin had begun airbending, he had carried the weight of an entire culture on his shoulders. Lin had always helped him carry that burden, no matter how many of her own she had, but it seemed that there was a limit to how much she could carry. He now had to choose between a future with Lin or reviving the airbending race. The full weight of his responsibilities came crashing down on his shoulders as he thought about the decision he had to make. He fell to his knees as he realized that it was too late for him to have a choice. The world needed airbenders and Lin would not be the one to help create them.

_ ". . .She said that I have two paths, and that one of them would lead to me losing everyone that I care about."_

Tenzin began to sob as he remembered the fortune that Lin had received nineteen years ago. She had been told that she had two futures ahead of her. One was the future they had planned and the other was dismal and lonely. Tenzin had assured that they could shape their own destiny, but it seemed that somewhere along the way they had taken a misstep.

_ "She said that other one was full of joy and life."_

_ "Then let's work towards that path. Together."_

* * *

_Sorry for the delay. I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I knew what I wanted it to be about, but I was really struggling with which of Tenzin's thoughts to show without rambling (I think that I ended up rambling anyways). I was also struggling with Pema's __dialogue. I spent a lot of time looking for scenes of her talking so that I could get a better feel for her speech patterns and personality and I was shocked at how hard it was. There honestly didn't seem to be much to work with._

_I was also struggling with writing about the Air Nomad culture. There's a lot that we don't know. My interpretation of the Air Nomad cultures and values, is based on what we've seen in the show and Buddhism (not an expert, just did research on the parts that are relevant to the story). I know that it may not add up with the comics and novels, but like I said, I'm basing it off the _show.__

_Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write._


	4. Trust

**A Stolen Future**

**Chapter Four: Trust**

"So. . . It's been awhile." Kya said as she sat a the table with one hand supporting her head and the other putting down a cup of tea.

"Four years." Lin replied. "You should visit once in a while. Your parents miss you."

"Yeah, I suppose I should, it looks like I've missed a lot." Kya said, looking at the scar on Lin's cheek.

Lin did not respond. Her demeanor became stiff and she tightened her grip on the teacup that sat on the table. She knew what Kya was referring to, but it was something that she would rather not discuss -especially with Kya. Lin did not hate Kya, they had grown up together and she cared for her a great deal, as she did with the rest of Tenzin's family. The problem with Kya was that Lin never really knew where she stood with her.

For as long as Lin could remember, her relationship with Kya had been volatile. There were times when Kya treated her with sisterly love, she was fun, kind, caring and empathetic. In those moments young, naive Lin loved her and wished that they were sisters; however, when Kya's jealousy of Lin's relationship with her father flared up she used her empathy as a weapon and cut Lin down with only a few words. It was for that reason that Lin was weary of confiding in the older woman and now found herself in a standoff.

"Yes." Lin finally replied. "A lot can happen in four years."

Kya's eyes narrowed as she looked at the younger woman with newfound curiosity. Lin knew what was coming and steeled herself for the two way interrogation that was about to begin as Kya dropped all pretense of subtlety.

"How'd you get that scar?" Kya asked.

"Work." Lin replied curtly.

"Care to be a little more specific?"

"No. Why are you here?"

"To see my family. How's yours?"

"Fine." Lin answered curtly.

She had tried her best to remain impassive, but the look in Kya's eyes told her that the woman knew she was getting on the right path.

"Why'd you get so drunk before coming here?" Lin asked, hoping to distract Kya.

The question seemed to catch Kya off guard. She was quiet for a moment as she stared at Lin with her lips parted slightly. She looked down at her tea and lifted the cup to her lips, taking a sip and putting the cup back on the table before looking back at Lin.

"You know me, Lin, I'm always getting drunk." Kya replied casually with a fake smile that failed to reach her eyes.

"Not like this." Lin replied. "This was different."

"You haven't seen me in four years, Lin, things change -like your hair!When did you cut it?"

"Last year, now don't-"

"-I bet Tenzin didn't like that." Kya interrupted. "He's always been obsessed with your hair -is that why you cut it? Did you two have a fight?"

Lin knew that Kya was trying to bait her into dropping the topic of her drunken rampage. Despite being genuinely concerned about Kya's alcohol abuse, Lin was willing to let the topic drop for now. She knew that Aang and Katara would speak to her about it when they had a chance, and right now she really just wanted to keep the conversation off the topic of her family. If it meant talking about her hair and Tenzin's "obsession" with it, then so be it.

"No, I cut it for work."

"Oh, is short hair a requirement now?"

"No, I just thought it would be practical."

"Are you growing it back?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I didn't like it."

"In other words, you missed Tenzin playing with your hair."

Lin's face turned red.

"That is not-"

"-Oh come on, Lin, we both know that it's true! Even when you were toddlers he loved touching your hair -and let's not even get started on when you were teenagers, I caught you two making out _way_ too many times."

"Are you done?" Lin asked in the tone of annoyance.

"No, not yet." Kya said with a smirk.

Lin rolled her eyes and took a sip of tea. Kya was clearly having too much fun torturing her, but Lin stilled preferred this conversation to the discussion of her scar and family.

"Does he still stroke your hair while you two read?" Kya asked.

Lin stared at her with a blank expression and blinked.

"Your fascination with your brother's displays of affection is disturbing."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Kya said with a smirk, causing Lin to scowl as her cheeks turned red again. "Oh lighten up, Lin, I think it's cute! And just think, when your hair grows back it'll be easy to hide hickeys again!"

"That was _one_ time and I never should have confided in you!" Lin snapped, finally losing her calm.

"Only once?"

"Yes."

"Have you and Tenzin ever-"

"-_No_. We're waiting until we're married."

"Wow. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that you've held out this long -considering how strait-laced the two of you are- but with the way you two went at it as teenagers-"

"-We were _not_ that bad!" Lin said in exasperation. "You make it sound like you caught us with our clothes off -which we both know never happened, so I better not hear any wisecracks about it!"

"Hey, remember that talk my parents insisted on having with you guys before you started dating?"

"Unfortunately." Lin grumbled.

"Oh, that was great!" Kya laughed.

"You weren't even supposed to be there, you were _meant _to be watching Su!"

"I was an adult, I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to -plus I had to take notes for Bumi. Oh, we still have a good laugh about it whenever we meet up!"

"Don't you two have anything better to talk about?"

"Plenty, but nothing quite as funny."

"Glad we could be of service." Lin muttered sarcastically, before taking a sip of tea.

"You know, we still can't decide which was funnier; Tenzin's reaction when he thought you were making a vow of eternal celibacy or when your mom gave you permission to get pregnant!"

"Yeah, nothing funnier than a mother who doesn't care about her fourteen-year-old's well

being."

"Oh don't be such a sourpuss, Lin, she knew you wouldn't do it." Kya said in a dismissive tone as a she took a sip of her tea.

Lin looked down at the teacup gripped, tightly, in her hand. She bit back a bitter comment and tried her best to pretend that the topic of her mother did not bother her. It was a pointless endeavor, Kya could see the tension in her hands and the way her chest expanded as she subtly tried to take a deep breathe.

"How is your mother doing, anyways?" Kya asked.

Lin's head snapped back up as she looked at Kya with barely concealed anger. She had given Kya the chance to drop the subject, but it seemed that she was determined to get answers that Lin was not willing to give. If Kya would not drop the matter, then Lin would strike back with a question that she knew would turn the tables on Kya. She straightened her back and looked Kya in the eyes.

"Considering retirement." Lin replied. "How's Tai?"

"Don't know. I left him in a prison somewhere. How's Su?"

At the mention of her sister, Lin felt her poker face crack. It was only a split second, but she could tell by the look in Kya's eyes that she knew she had struck a nerve. She could not let Kya have the upper hand, so instead of answering the question she struck back with one that she knew would catch Kya off guard.

"So those weren't his ashes in the urn?"

Kya's eyes widened in shock and Lin knew that she had gained the upper hand.

"YOU WENT THROUGH MY BAG?" Kya exclaimed, losing all semblance of calm.

"You were covered in vomit and your mother asked me to get you a change of clothes."

Kya continued to glare at Lin, with her fist clenched and her chest heaving as she breathed heavily.

"Did you tell anybody about it?" She asked, quietly.

"No, I figured that I'd let you tell us when you're ready, but seeing as you want to catch up so badly, I thought that we may as well talk about it now."

The two women became locked in a staring contest. Lin's pale green eyes were hard and unflinching, while Kya's blue eyes held anger and a touch of fear. This was Kya's final chance to back down and if she didn't take it, Lin would be merciless in her questioning.

"So, do you want to tell me who's in the urn or would you rather go back to talking about my hair or something equally frivolous?"

Kya seemed to deflate and was about to answer when something seemed to click in her mind. Her eyes darted around the room before resting back on Lin.

"It's quiet." Kya said in surprise.

"So?"

"Where's Su?"

Lin's eyes narrowed.

"Who's in the urn?" Lin asked.

"There are only three futons in our room, she's not here is she?" Kya asked.

"Who is so important to you that you would be carrying their ashes everywhere you go?"

Kya's eyes began to water at Lin's question, but she blinked back the tears.

"Lin, why isn't Su here? She loves this trip. She begs to go even when my parents aren't going."

Lin ignored the question, but had difficulty hiding the anger it brought.

"Whats going on with you, Kya? You show up here unannounced and drunk, with an urn in your bag and no explanation."

"What's going on with _you_, Lin? The last time I saw you, everything was fine -now you have a scar on your face, your attitude is worse than usual and your sister is missing! What happened? Where's Su and who did that to your face!"

"That's none of your business!" Lin snapped.

Kya looked at Lin in shock. She suddenly reached across the table and grabbed the younger woman's hand.

"Of course it is, Lin! We're family!"

"No we're not. You made that abundantly clear." Lin snapped as she pulled her pale hand out of Kya's grasp.

Silence fell between the two women. Kya looked down in shame while Lin found herself unable to look at her and turned to the window.

"I'm sorry, Lin." Kya finally said. "That's- uh- That's actually part of the reason why I came here. . . I wanted to apologize."

Lin scoffed and continued to look out the window.

"It's true, Lin. Look- I know that it's long overdue, but I _do _owe you an apology."

"And why should I believe you!" Lin demanded angrily as she finally turned to face Kya. "Why should I believe that this apology is any different from all the other ones! It's always the same with you -You apologize, I believe you and trust you again, and then the moment you get angry or jealous you use that trust to hurt me!"

Kya sighed and dropped her face into her hands. Lin turned her head to the side once again and stared at the window as she tried to drown out old memories.

"I almost came home after leaving Tai," Kya admitted, "I stopped by Kyoshi for a week, to help take care of Suki. . . and while I was there. . . I changed my mind. I decided to keep traveling the world and see if I could find myself. . . I didn't like what I found."

Silence fell again. With her peripheral vision, Lin could see that Kya's head was no longer bowed and that she was looking at her, but Lin did not want to look at her and kept her head turned away. She heard Kya take a deep breathe before speaking again.

"The urn. . . I -I had a miscarriage a few months ago. . ."

Lin's eyes widened in surprise at Kya's confession, as well the sobs that she tried to choke back. Lin finally turned her head to face Kya, wanting to gauge her sincerity. She was shocked at the sight in front of her, never in her life had she seen Kya looking so pitiful -her head was bowed, and despite her best efforts, a tear managed to escape her eye and fall into her tea.

"I was. . . terrified when I realized that I was pregnant. . . I thought that I was officially the screw up of the family. . . and that my parents. . . I thought that they would be so -so ashamed of me. . . and that they. . . they wouldn't want anything to do with my baby. . ."

"Kya. . ."

"And then I thought of you." Kya said, finally looking up at Lin.

"Me?" Lin asked. "Why would you. . . Oh."

"Your mother wasn't married and yet. . . they never cast her aside. They may not have agreed with her choices, but they helped your mother through the pregnancy and helped raise you. . . more importantly -they love you. They've always loved you like you were one of their own -maybe even more."

Lin averted her eyes for a moment and took a deep breathe. Kya's words brought back old memories that came with a wave of guilt and anger.

_"Why don't you just get off our island and get your own dad!" Preteen Kya yelled angrily and at six-year-old Lin._

As a child, Lin had not understood why Kya would say something so cruel. As she grew, she came to understand that those words came from a place of anger, jealousy and neglect. She knew that Kya was jealous of the unconditional love and attention that Aang showered on Lin and Su. She understood that pain all too well, especially after the incident that had left her scarred for life. . . but she would never apologize for it. No matter how much she understood or how guilty she felt, she would never reject the love and care that Kya's parents gave her -even when it came at the expense of their elder children. Aang was the only father figure she would ever have, and he and Katara provided the love and care that her own mother could never give. She would never give that up, even if it hurt Bumi and Kya.

Even in Kya's pitiful state, Lin could not bring herself to apologize for the hurt her very existence had caused the other woman. She looked down at the cup of lukewarm tea that was gripped in her hands as she tried to find the words to reassure Kya of her parents' love for her. Thankfully Kya did not give her the chance to speak.

"I'm not angry at you anymore, Lin."

Lin looked up in surprise as Kya continued to speak.

"Remembering how much my parents love you and how involved they've been in your life. . . it actually comforted me."

"How?"

Kya gave a weak smile.

"Because I knew that they would treat my child the same way. I found myself thinking that if my parents could give my baby the same love they gave you and if I could be a good mom. . . Maybe she wouldn't notice that her father was missing and everything would be okay. . . but then I also remembered how other people treated you. . . more importantly I remembered how _I_ treated you."

Lin remained silent and averted her eyes again. She wished that she could tell Kya that it was fine and it was all in the past, but that would be a lie that neither of them believed, so instead she let Kya continue speaking.

"Lin. . . the things I said to you were. . . _cruel_, and the thought of somebody saying those things to my child. . . it was unbearable. . . You didn't deserve that, Lin."

"We were kids." Lin said.

It was not much, but it was the closest that Lin could get to words of forgiveness, and she had no idea what else she could say.

"_You_ were a kid." Kya corrected. "I was old enough to know better -I _did _know better, but I resented you so much that it didn't matter."

Kya suddenly reached out and grabbed one of Lin's hands. She gave a small tug, signaling that she wanted Lin to look at her. Lin complied, whether out of pity or feeling worn down, she did not know.

"I never should have taken my anger out on you, Lin. There's no excuse for it. My problems are with my Dad and you were just an innocent kid-"

"-No I wasn't." Lin interrupted.

Kya looked at Lin in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" Kya asked.

She did not sound angry or upset, like Lin would expect. Instead she sounded like a mother, trying to understand why her child was upset. . . Just like when they were kids.

"I knew why you were angry at me, Kya, but I never did anything to help you."

"And what do you think you could have done?" Kya asked.

"I could have chosen not to go on those trips with your dad and Tenzin, or I could have asked to bring you along. I could have insisted that he didn't attend my school events, tournaments, performances, birthdays and other events. I also could have chosen to spend more time at my own home when I got older-"

"-And then you and Su would have been alone."

Lin fell silent at the mention of her sister.

"Look, Lin, even if you had done all those things. . . I don't think it would have helped. You're not the reason my Dad neglected me. That's all on him. _He_ could have brought me on those trips, _he _could have made more time for me, and _he _is the one who should have realized that he needed to put effort into our relationship -he thought that just because I was his real daughter he didn't need to put in as much effort, and that was on him, _not_ you and Su -and I never should have put that on the two of you."

"But I saw how much it was hurting you and I never did anything to stop it. Even now -if you asked me to leave, I wouldn't do it."

"I won't ask you to." Kya said. "Like I said before, I have a whole new perspective on the matter. Even though you're an adult now, you're still a kid with no dad. . . and not much of a mother either."

Lin looked down at her tea again. She felt Kya squeeze her hand, and looked to the hand she held before looking back up at her face. There was an earnest smile on it now.

"How about we just both agree to do better at sharing, okay?" Kya asked.

Lin thought about it for a moment before giving a small smile of her own.

"I suppose that I could do that."

"Good, I get the feeling that we're about to be sisters soon, so it's about time we started acting like it again!" Kya cheerfully proclaimed.

Lin was suddenly overcome with feelings of discomfort and panic. Without thinking, she pulled her hand out of Kya's grasp and accidentally knocked over her cup of tea. Thankfully, the tea was now room temperature and did not burn Lin as it spilled over the side of the table and onto her lap.

"For Yangchen's sake!" She muttered irritably, as she grabbed a clothe and began sopping up the mess.

Lin was so distracted by the thoughts swirling through her head and the mess she was trying to clean, that she did not even notice Kya calling her name. It took her by surprise when Kya ripped the clothe out of her hand and used her waterbending to gather the spilled tea into a cup.

"It's fine, Lin. Spills are pretty easy to clean when you have a waterbender in the room." Kya said in an attempt to calm her down.

Lin stared at her for a moment before suddenly standing up.

"I need to change." She announced, before walking towards her room.

"Lin!" Kya called as the younger woman quickly walked away. "Lin!"

Lin slid the door to her room open and was about to enter when she felt a hand close around her wrist.

"Lin, stop!" Kya demanded.

"I need to change," Lin said without looking back, "my clothes are wet."

"No they're not, I pulled the water out." Kya reminded her.

Lin was about to respond when she noticed that Kya was right; she was dry, but had been too disoriented to notice. Lin let out a sigh, slid the door closed and rested her head against it. She felt Kya let go of her hand and rest it on her shoulder.

"How about we sit down." Kya suggested, before leading a reluctant Lin to the cushioned bench in front of the window.

Lin leaned against the back against the window and stared straight ahead, looking at nothing in particular.

"Sorry about freaking out." Lin said. "I just. . . ."

Kya sighed.

"Lin, there is obviously something bothering you. I get that it may take some time for you to fully trust me again, so I won't pressure you -but _if _you would like to talk to me about it, I'm willing to listen. The only thing I ask is that you at least tell me what's going on with Su."

Lin's fists began to clench.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but can you at least tell me if she's okay? She's family and I'm worried."

"Su is gone." Lin finally said.

"Wha-" Kya gasped. "You don't mean-"

"No, not like that. . . She left Republic City seven months ago. Mom sent her to live with our grandparents, but for all I know, she's run off and joined a circus by now!"

"Lin. . ."

"Can we talk about something else?" Lin asked quickly, as she clenched her hands in her lap.

"Fine." Kya agreed. "When's the wedding?" She asked cheerfully.

The question jolted Lin and snapped her attention away from her hands. She instantly turned her head to look at Kya.

"Wedding? What wedding?" She asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"_Your _wedding. . . to _Tenzin_." Kya said. "I thought the plan was for the two of you to be married and have at least one kid by now."

"It was," Lin replied as she looked down again, "but. . . things came up and we decided to postpone it."

"What kind of things?"

Lin was silent as she looked down at her hands clutching the green fabric that covered her legs.

"Lin, what happened?" Kya asked.

"The same thing that always happens!" Lin burst out.

"Your family?"

"Of course it was my family! It's _always_ my family!"

"What happened this time?" Kya asked.

Lin sighed and slumped her shoulders before replying.

"Su started acting up when I joined the police academy. . . It didn't seem like a big deal at first -she was just moodier than usual- but by the time Tenzin got back from his trip around the world. . . she was staying out late, slacking off at school and hanging out with delinquents. . . and Mom refused to do anything about it."

"You postponed your engagement to take care of Su." Kya said in realization.

Lin nodded as Kya began to rub her back in a gesture of comfort.

"You're a really good sister, Lin. Not many people would make that kind of sacrifice for their siblings."

"It didn't matter." Lin replied.

"Of course it did!" Kya argued.

"_No_, it didn't. If it had, then she wouldn't be gone!"

"It's not forever, Lin. She'll be back someday and-"

"-She's not coming back." Lin said.

"You're being dramatic."

"No I'm not. She can't come back and even if she did, I wouldn't want her to!"

"You don't mean that, Lin." Kya said.

"Yes I do."

"Look, you two obviously had some kind of fight before she left and you're still mad about it -I get it, I've been there- but trust me when I say that in a few years you'll barely barely remember it and-"

"-I'll never forget." Lin said as she touched the scar on her cheek. "She made sure of that."

"I thought you said you got that on the job."

"I did."

Kya's eyes widened in realization.

". . .I-I don't. . . What was Su doing there?"

"Driving a getaway car for the Terra Triad."

Kya was silent for a few moments as she absorbed this new information.

"Your mom covered it up and sent her away."

Lin nodded while still looking down at her lap. Kya sighed.

"Well look on the bright side, there's nothing stopping you from marrying Tenzin anymore!"

Lin was silent for a few moments, still looking down at he hands, which were once again clutching the the fabric of her tunic.

"I'm not sure if I should marry Tenzin." She finally said.

Kya's eyes widened in surprise.

"_What? Why?_" She asked. "You two have been in love since you were children! Why would you say that?"

". . .Su insisted on seeing a fortune teller years ago. . . She told Su that she would be separated from Mom and I. . . I told her that it was nonsense and that I would never let that happen."

"So? What does that have to do with you and Tenzin?"

Lin let out a deep breathe.

"She told me that I had two paths in front of me. . . One would be filled with love and new life, and the other. . . would be filled with heartbreak and that I would lose everything I care about."

"So choose the path of love and life, Lin!" Kya said, as if it was an obvious answer.

"She said that I had already taken the first step."

"Yeah, down the path of love and life." Kya reiterated.

Lin shook her head.

"I lost Su-"

"-Yeah, but the fortune teller said that would happen anyways."

"It's not just Su! You and Bumi left, Suki and Sokka left, their kids have gone too, Shu Fang and her family moved to Ba Sing Se, Mom and I barely talk, and. . . Rina. . . Rina was killed."

"Wha- Rina?" Kya gasped. "When- Wha- How-"

"She was killed in the line of duty, back in December."

"Lin. . . I'm sorry." Kya said as she hugged the younger woman close.

"I was supposed to be with her," Lin said, "but I was sick, so Mom sent me home."

"Lin don't-"

"I should have stayed."

"You can't blame yourself for this Lin!"

"Yes I can! If I had stayed she might still be alive!"

"Or we might have lost you too! It wasn't your fault, Lin, and if you were feeling bad enough for _Toph_ of all people to send you home, then you probably would have been more of a burden than help."

"Maybe it would have been better that way."

"Don't say that!" Kya said sternly. "You have so many people that love you, Lin, we'd be devastated if we lost you -especially Tenzin!"

"At least he'd be safe." Lin mumbled.

At that, Kya released Lin from the hug and looked at her with critical gaze.

"Why would you say that?"

"That fortune teller said that I would lose everyone I care about. I didn't believe it at first, but I lost Su, just like she said I would! Then everybody started moving away, and I thought that was all she meant -then Rina was killed."

"What does that have to do with Tenzin?"

"If I'm going to lose everyone I care about, then it's only a matter of time before I lose Tenzin! You know that Tenzin would never abandon the Republic City or Air Temple Island-"

"-Or you, which makes the whole thing a load of bison turds!"

"He could _die_." Lin said at Kya, with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "And if we have children, I'll obviously care about them and they might die too!"

"You're being ridiculous, Lin!"

"If she was right about Su, then she could be right about this -and if she is, then how could I risk Tenzin's life like that?"

"She said that there were two possible futures and one is a happy future -with _new life_, come on Lin, she's obviously talking about all the cute babies you and Tenzin are gonna have!"

"She said that I'd already taken the first step, Kya. Look at what's happened so far."

"People move, Lin, it happens -and it's not for good, _I _came back, didn't I?"

"For how long?"

"I-I don't know."

"Exactly. Suki is dying, and I doubt that Sokka will come back after she's dead. Bumi is in the _military, _he's putting his life at risk on a regular basis -and Su. . . Su isn't coming home." Lin said as she looked down in her lap again, "If I marry Tenzin, I'll be putting his life at risk. . . not to mention the Air Nation."

Silence fell between the two woman as they thought about the unfortunate situation.

"Lin," Kya said gently, "What if we could prove that you'll have that happy future with Tenzin?"

A puzzled expression crossed Lin's face as she looked up at Kya.

"How could we do that?"

"The only reason you're worried is because of something a fortune teller said. We're in Makapu Village, where some of the world's best fortune tellers live, why don't we go to one of them?"

"I-I don't know." Lin said.

"Come on! It would clear your mind of all these worries, and you and Tenzin would be able to get on with your lives!"

"But what if they're frauds and they just tell me what I want to hear?"

"Isn't the whole reason we're having this conversation, because you believe a fortune teller?"

"Because she was right about Su, and seems to be right about _my _future as well!"

"Well then, it's a good thing that I'm familiar with this village and it's fortune tellers. I've spoken to the locals and gone to a few fortune tellers myself, so I happen to know who the most accurate fortune teller in town is -and believe me when I say that she doesn't just tell you what you want to hear -so how 'bout it?"

"I-I-"

"Perfect! Let's go!" Kya declared as she stood up and pulled Lin along with her.

Kya led Lin out of the inn and through the streets of Makapu where the residents were setting up for the festival in honor of Avatar Aang. Eventually they came to a stop outside a building with an ornately carved, circle door. Kya reached out to knock on the door, but was stopped when Lin grabbed her arm.

"Stop, Kya, this is ridiculous."

"How?" Kya asked. "The only reason you're worrying about this is because of a fortune teller."

"So I'm supposed to see another one."

"_Yes_, she can tell you you're on the right path and then you can marry Tenzin with no worries and give me a bunch of nieces and nephews!"

"And what if I'm on the wrong path?"

"Then you can talk to Tenzin about it and get back on the right path together."

"That doesn't make any sense. If I'm on the wrong path, wouldn't it be too late?"

"You can always change the path you're on, Lin."

"What's the point of a fortune teller if you can just change the future?"

"Our future is shaped by our choices, Lin." Kya explained. "Most fortune tellers can only see one path -the one that we're currently on. But there are some, like the one you saw, that can see multiple paths. They see the paths that we can forge by making different choices, sometimes we end up continuing on that path, but we can also make the choice to create a new path -and a fortune teller can give us clues so that we can know when to make the choice that matters."

Lin glanced towards the door as she thought of the choice that lay in front of her now. She could choose to ignore the dismal prophecy she had received, take a risk and marry Tenzin; but was it really her risk to take? What if it was all nonsense and Aunt Jun had simply made a lucky guess about Su's departure? What if it was real? What if this fortune teller was just a charlatan?

"Why this fortune teller?" Lin asked.

"Most of the villagers swear by her. I've seen her myself and swear by her too. She told me that I would have to travel the world to find myself. I almost gave up on my journey when Tai was arrested, but then I remembered her words and they inspired me to keep going. I visited her again a little over a year ago to ask if I should go home, and she told me that I would know when it was time."

"That seems rather vague." Lin pointed out.

"That's what I thought at the time, but it turned out to be true. If I had come back earlier, I would still be the same old, bitter Kya that I used to be and we wouldn't be having this conversation -come to think of it, she told me that I'd be bringing a friend to see her the next time I visited -there ya go, more evidence!" Kya cheered happily as she slapped Lin on the back.

Lin looked at the door in front of her, still feeling unsure about whether or not to go in.

"Look," Kya said getting her attention again, "you don't have to see her. You could accept that life will never be perfect and that you're just going through a rough patch and keep moving towards the life that you want; but if you're really that worried then you can go inside and ask."

Lin mulled over Kya's words in her head. Maybe she was being silly. It was posssible that she was just going through a rough patch. Everybody went through those. . . but could she really take that chance with Tenzin's life -not to mention the future of an entire civilization? She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe before as she thought about the decision before her. She opened her eyes as she released the breathe, stepped forward and knocked on the door.

* * *

_Sorry it took so long to write this chapter. When I first envisioned this story I imagined it to be a pretty short and simple chapter, but as I studied Kya's character it became far more complex. I know a lot of fanfiction writers like to write Lin and Kya as being close friends, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that there would have been tension between them due to Lin's close relationship with Aang (Tenzin did say that Lin and Aang got along famously) and Tenzin (who Kya loved to torment). This chapter ended up becoming longer than I wanted and I finally had to admit that I'll have to cut into two parts. . . also my life is hectic, I'm lazy and as anybody who looks at my profile will see, I keep getting other ideas that I need to get out of my head (I haven't published even half of them)._


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